Some fans take all the fun out of college football recruiting

South Carolina prep star Jadeveon Clowney doesn't plan to announce his collegiate choice on Wednesday, which is National Signing Day, but has indicated he will wait until his birthday, which is Feb. 14. (Rock Hill Herald/Melissa Cherry)

MOBILE, Alabama -- There are those for whom today couldn't get here quick enough.

Take C.J. Johnson. The top prospect in Mississippi got deluged with nasty messages after de-committing from Mississippi State early last month. MSU fans posed as Rebels. Ole Miss fans posed as Bulldogs. Baseless claims were made about his mother's employment, insinuating that she'd been given illegal benefits by Ole Miss boosters.

Johnson got so fed up that he decided to shut down his Facebook page.

Then there's Brent Calloway. The top prospect in Alabama announced on national television during the U.S. Army game last month that he was switching his commitment from Alabama to Auburn. When he got back home, his Facebook page was lit up like the Fourth of July.

"I got things saying they hope I break my legs," Calloway told the TimesDaily. "I've had death threats. They hope I lose my scholarship. A bunch of crazy stuff."

And for what? The hope of winning a few football games? A chance to brag around the water cooler?

People ought to be given IQ tests in order to use social media networks the same way they're given driving tests to be licensed to drive a car. If you're too stupid to know what common decency is, you can buy a stamp and send a letter like the old days.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the top prospect in the country, Jadeveon Clowney, who apparently enjoys the recruiting process so much that he wants it to last another two weeks. Clowney, who is expected to sign with either South Carolina or Alabama, has indicated he won't announce his decision until Feb. 14, his birthday.

The waiting game is becoming a trend with the bluest of the blue-chippers. Terrelle Pryor waited until March before signing with Ohio State in 2008. Bryce Brown and Seantrel Henderson did the same thing last year.

Will Clowney learn anything new in the next two weeks that will shape his decision? Or does he just want all the attention to himself?

Football coaches preach until they're blue in the face that no one player is bigger than the team. And yet they hold scholarships for blue-chippers and wonder why they come to college with a sense of entitlement.

It's a shame that some athletes choose to wallow in the ego-fueling, look-at-me aspects of recruiting. It's even worse that some people don't have enough sense to leave teenagers alone and let them make their own decisions about where they want to spend the next four or five years.

"This is something that we should enjoy," Johnson told the Clarion-Ledger last week, "but fans take the fun out of it."